Besides Bread and Fruit, of which we have spoken' already, they
eat also Flesh, but not of all sorts of Beasts, for the Flesh of
several Beasts, as has been formerly observ'd, is forbidden: But
they are permitted to eat of Swine's Flesh, of all sorts of Fowl,
except Pigeons and Turtles; of all sorts of Venison, except the
Hart and the Doe, of all the Fish that swims in the Sea or the
Rivers without any exception. They some times roast or boil their
Flesh, but they know not what it is to stew any Meat, and therefore
do not use it, though it is not forbidden. They commonly eat the
Flesh of Venison and of Fowls raw: And, which may seem strange here
in England, they eat Serpents also, which they look upon as
very good Meat and very savoury, being broil'd upon the Coals: But
before they cat them, they take care to extract all the Poison out
of them, which they do after this manner: They take them when they
are alive and beat them with Rods until they be very angry; and
when they are in this furious passion, all the Venom that was in
the Body ascends to the Head, which being then cut off, there
remains no more Poison in the Body, which may therefore be safely
eaten. They feed also upon Hen-eggs, Goose-eggs, and the like, and
all sorts of wholesome Herbs and Roots.